During winter break Tahoma beat Lynden, 57-43, in a benchmark non-league contest Dec. 22 at ShoWare Center in Kent.

Tahoma rushed out to a 15-6 lead in the first quarter and took a 27-18 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Bears then held the Lions to five points in the third quarter while putting up 14.

From there, Tahoma held off Lynden, which surged in the fourth quarter outscoring Tahoma 20-16 but it wasn’t enough to catch the Bears.

Coleman Wooten led Tahoma with 21 points while DeShon Williams had 10 and Ethan McCormack chipped in eight and Paul Loranger added seven.

Tahoma coach Brian Davis wrote in an online conversation that the win was significant because Lynden, which is a 2A school, has a tradition of championships, so to “play well against them is exciting.”

“Plus it is a great game to see where we are at in the growth of our team,” Davis wrote. “To be a program of significance you have to play those programs and compete at a high level. We did that.”

This game was a good way for Tahoma to stay sharp over winter break before South Puget Sound League 4A North play begins again.

“It was a game where we really executed a game plan against a very physical team,” Davis wrote. “Plus we were especially efficient offensively and played tremendous defense.”

Tahoma will travel to Kentridge with tipoff slated for 7:30 p.m. Jan. 3 to start league play again. The Bears will wrap up winter break with a tournament at Bothell High Friday, Saturday and Sunday.